Apponequet hockey coach Craig Correia picks up his first two CCNB Four-ball wins

By Nick FriarContributing Writer

Wednesday

Aug 7, 2019 at 9:05 PMAug 7, 2019 at 9:44 PM

DARTMOUTH — It’s been more than two decades since fictional wannabe hockey player Happy Gilmore introduced his unique form from the tee box and hockey stick-style putter on the big screen, becoming one of the most beloved to players to never actually play the game.

One would think an actual hockey player, or coach, might carry Gilmore’s unique putter in his or her bag — Odyssey made a limited amount years ago and you’ll be lucky to find one on eBay (and they don’t sell for cheap). However, Apponequet hockey coach Craig Correia does not carry one and he does not employ the same unorthodox technique off the tee.

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Still, Correia has experienced a bit of success at the 89th Country Club of New Bedford Four-ball tournament this year. The four-year CCNB member has participated in the tournament as long as he’s been a member, but until this year he’d never made it past the first round. After advancing to the second round of play on Wednesday, Correia is bound for the third round, after winning 2-up on the 18th hole to reach the Round of 16 on Thursday.

So what’s been the difference?

“I get to play with my brother,” Correia said. “It’s fun.”

And why did Correia finally turn to his younger brother, Matt, for help?

“Because he finally got good at golf,” Craig said before erupting in laughter while Matt let big brother enjoy yet another victory. “No, but he’s been going to school.”

Matt recently finished studying at Babson College as part of the college’s challenging MBA program.

But Matt isn’t new to golf by any stretch, nor is Craig. The brothers, who are separated in age by three years, were introduced to the sport as caddies at The Kittansett Club in Marion. Craig describes the experience they gained as teenagers as “fake playing,” since they didn’t start playing until 2010, sticking to hockey and lacrosse in their youth instead.

Now the Correias are in the thick of things. They’ve been tested along the way, but face as big a challenge on Thursday as anyone has to this point in the tournament.

They drew Peter Lafreniere and JC Guthrie, who won 5-and-3 on Wednesday after Guthrie, a former Massachusetts Four-ball champion, was on pace to set the course record on Tuesday before the match was cut short after hole 12 — because they’d already won.

“I’ve played with Peter before in the Fourth of July Tournament (at CCNB),” Correia said. “But his partner’s apparently a complete stud.”

Guthrie had himself another strong performance on Wednesday, though Lafreniere couldn’t sit back and let his partner go to to work like the first day of the Four-ball. That being said, the pair was still dominant on Day 2 of the tournament.

Lafreniere and Guthrie have only lost one hole out of 36.

“Yesterday is behind us,” Lafreniere said. “It doesn’t matter what you did yesterday. Every day is a new day. You could come out and have a day like JC did yesterday, where I could have stayed in the cart all day, where today you both have to play and the other guys are just scrapping away, not letting you run away with it.”

No Snell v. Snell this year

It’s been three years since Dean Snell and Paul Debortoli won the Four-ball tournament, but the pairing still has a shot at the title after their win on Wednesday. However, Snell will not get the chance to face his son, Craig, who was eliminated from play on Tuesday.

The Snells were on the same side of the bracket and would have played on Friday had they both stayed alive. Craig thought it was his chance to make a deep run.

“I would just hope he’d let me win,” he said, with dad quickly stating he wasn’t about to hand his son an easy win.

Maybe next year. For now, the CCNB members will have to continue their battle for supremacy in friendly matches.

The championship bracket tee times start at 12:45 p.m. on Thursday as the field will be pared down to eight teams heading into Friday's quarterfinals.

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